New leader tapped for civic group tied to Gables youth center. What to know
The civic organization in a bitter dispute with Coral Gables over a city youth center has a new president.
Darby Plummer, a longtime Gables resident and a retired employee of the University of Miami, is the new leader of the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Association, the self-described watchdog of the city-run youth center.
She’s replacing Kirk Menendez, a former Gables commissioner and the group’s longtime president. Plummer, a former chair and member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, is taking the reins at a time when the group is preparing for a potential legal battle with the city.
The bad blood between city leaders and the association began months ago and has to do with the association’s operations and a clause in a decades-old deed that gave the property to the city.
The clause requires the city to never change the name of the youth center and to continue using the property for youth recreational activities for children in Coral Gables. If the city were to ever backtrack, ownership of the property would go back to the association, which initially gifted the land to the city decades ago.
Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara want the clause gone, describing it as an “unnecessary cloud on the title.” The association disagrees and argues that the clause protects the youth center, even if city officials promise they would never sell or close the center.
When asked about the pending legal trouble, Plummer said she’s hopeful the issue will get resolved soon and will defer to the association’s legal experts to navigate the situation.
“I want to be sure that the mission of the War Memorial Association is front and center,” said Plummer, who served as the association’s secretary for 2025 and is a former coach and referee at the youth center.
“We are the guardians of the Coral Gables Youth Center, making sure that it stays available to the youth of the city of Coral Gables, and that no other outside interests impact that mission,” she added.
The association, which has been around for over 80 years, says it has about two dozen active members. Various civic leaders have served on the board over the years, including U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, U.S. Judge C. Clyde Atkins, and a series of Coral Gables commissioners and mayors, including Don and Jeannett Slesnick.
Coral Gables group gets new president
Like many in the Gables, Plummer grew up at the youth center, playing soccer and practicing chants as a cheerleader, and her children grew up there, too. It’s also where she met her husband and found solace after the death of her 11-year-old brother, she said. His memorial was held at the center.
“Darby is the embodiment of what Coral Gables is all about ... she is a light that shines not only on the youth center but in our community” said Menendez, a member of the association since 1992 and president since 2010. He also sits on the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory board.
When asked about the timing of the leadership change, Menendez said his decision to step down as president wasn’t related to the drama surrounding the youth center. Menendez, who is still a member of the association’s board of directors, said he decided not to run again for president because he saw that people like Plummer “were at a point in their life where they could dedicate time to serving.”
“I’ve been hoping to find somebody that would do an amazing job and Darby is definitely that person,” said the 63-year-old Menendez, who described the 60-year-old Plummer as someone who “understands the importance of the youth center to generations of families.” Jane Muir, the association’s attorney and a member of its board, nominated Plummer for the presidential position. The board, following a discussion, voted unanimously to appoint her.
The only time she hasn’t lived in the Gables, Plummer said, is when she went to study psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then got a master’s degree from UM’s business school.
Plummer, who was mostly a stay-at-home mom as her kids grew up, eventually found her way back to UM, where she founded and directed the university’s Cane Success Center more than a decade ago. The department, now known as the university’s Center for Academic Navigation and Success, offers academic support to undergraduate students. She retired in February 2025.
“We have this growing city, and the youth center is like the landmark, the foundation and the heart and soul of how you create those lifelong childhood memories here,” said Plummer, a longtime member of the association who has had various roles through the years.
One association role that sticks in the grandmother’s mind: Her time on a committee to help select Gables children for youth center summer camp scholarships, funded by the city.
New officers elected to Gables association
Plummer was elected to be a 2026 officer along with three other members of the Coral Gables War Memorial Association’s Board of Directors. All have strong ties to the city.
- Tim Gomez was re-elected as vice president.
The public policy and legislative expert has worked in local and state-level political campaigns and government consulting for the past two decades and has been a member of the association for over 40 years. Gomez, who is currently partner at Capital City Consulting, has provided government consulting and lobbying for organizations including the Miami Dolphins, the Miami International Boat Show and Formula 1.
Born and raised in Coral Gables, the Florida State University grad and his family have deep ties to the youth center. He played at the center as a child — Menendez was his coach — and also got his first job at the center. His dad, who was also a member of the association, was a coach at the center in the 1960s under the late Athletic Director Ron Fraser, UM’s legendary baseball coach. Gomez dad was “the coolest coach,” at the center, according to Plummer.
- Thor W. Bruce is the new treasurer.
Bruce, a professor emeritus of finance at UM, used to take his children to play sports at the youth center and is the president of the Friends of Theatre for UM’s Jerry Hermann Ring Theatre. He’s the former president of the Financial Analysts Society of South Florida, now part of AIMR, and served for over 40 years as president of the Biltmore Homeowners Association of Coral Gables. He has served on the association’s board of directors for over 12 years.
- Jane Muir, the attorney representing the association in its dispute with the Gables, was elected to serve as the group’s secretary.
Muir, the managing partner of J. Muir & Associates, P.A., has previously held numerous leadership roles through the years, including president of the Coral Gables Bar Association and the Miami-Dade Bar Association. Muir was also many accolades. Some of them:
She was recognized in the Miami Herald’s “20 Under 40 Emerging Leaders for South Florida” list in 2014, received the Florida Bar’s “Most Productive Young Lawyer” award in 2015 and was awarded “Businesswoman of the Year” by the Coral Gables Bar Association in 2020. Her firm was also recognized with the 2023 Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce’s Diamond Award for “Law Firm of the Year.” Muir is a graduate of UM’s law school and, like the other newly elected officials, grew up in Gables schools. She became a member of the association’s board of directors in 2025.
